Multiple global brokerages have rolled out comprehensive stock recommendations and target price updates across key Indian equities, covering sectors from insurance and consumer discretionary to automotive and telecommunications. The fresh views address regulatory developments, quarterly performance trends, and evolving market dynamics.

Insurance Sector Updates

PB Fintech Faces Regulatory Headwinds

Jefferies maintains a Buy rating with a target price of ₹2,200.00 for PB Fintech, despite recent regulatory concerns impacting the stock. The company's share price has declined 13% over the past month due to worries around commission caps.

The brokerage believes PB Fintech can offset regulatory impacts through strategic initiatives, though near-term pressure may persist at current valuations of 44x EV/adjusted EBITDA.

ICICI Prudential Life Receives Multiple Upgrades

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has garnered positive attention from several brokerages following strong quarterly performance. The consensus points to sustained growth momentum and margin improvements.

Key performance drivers include growth revival, margin expansion, and strong retail protection segment performance aided by GST exemption benefits. Management targets 13-14% medium-term topline growth, though sustainability of the turnaround remains a focus area.

ICICI Lombard Shows Mixed Results

ICICI Lombard General Insurance received varied assessments, with Morgan Stanley maintaining Equal-weight at ₹2,035.00 and Citi holding a Sell rating with an upgraded target of ₹1,760.00 from ₹1,710.00. The mixed outlook reflects competitive pressures in motor insurance and elevated combined ratios impacting profitability.

Consumer and Industrial Stocks

Titan Gets Significant Target Hike

Investec upgraded Titan's target price substantially to ₹4,789.00 from ₹4,248.00 while maintaining a Buy rating. The optimistic view is based on:

• Relatively inelastic jewellery demand patterns
• Strong growth expected across all jewellery segments
• Rising profit contribution from subsidiary operations
• Active management interventions to capture market opportunities

L&T Faces Macro Concerns

HSBC maintains a Hold rating on L&T but reduced the target price to ₹3,900.00 from ₹4,000.00. While the third quarter is expected to show decent performance supported by execution capabilities and order backlog, emerging macro concerns around domestic and global capex spending present headwinds.

Automotive and Other Sectors

TVS Motor received an upgraded target from Kotak to ₹3,950.00 from ₹3,675.00 with an Add rating, supported by domestic two-wheeler recovery, electric vehicle leadership, and strong export demand trends.

SBI Cards saw CLSA upgrade the stock to Hold from Underperform with a ₹820.00 target, citing asset quality recovery expectations despite pressure on pre-provision operating profit.

Indus Towers maintained CLSA's High Conviction Outperform rating at ₹565.00, positioned as a key beneficiary of Vodafone Idea's potential revival and AGR relief measures.

Sectoral and Strategic Outlook

Citi initiated coverage on digital brokerage platforms Angel One and Groww with Buy ratings and targets of ₹3,215.00 and ₹195.00 respectively, viewing both as transformational plays evolving into comprehensive financial platforms.

Bank of America's India strategy team expects earnings weakness to persist in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, with Nifty earnings growth around 5% year-on-year. However, select sectors including Cement, Industrials, Telecom, and Autos are projected to deliver strong earnings growth of 29-40%. The firm remains overweight on rate-sensitive and affluent consumption themes while maintaining an underweight stance on capex-led plays.

Global brokerages have rolled out comprehensive sector-level and stock-specific recommendations ahead of the next trading session, covering major names across building materials, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and IT services. The fresh views encompass broader commentary on cement profitability trends, hospital capacity expansion, specialty pharma growth trajectories, and evolving inflation dynamics alongside expectations for RBI policy actions.

Building Materials and Cement Sector

Jefferies maintains a constructive stance on the cement sector heading into FY27, expecting the industry to build on profitability gains. The brokerage highlights that demand resilience remains intact despite volatility in government capex, with capacity utilisation expected to remain around 70.00%. A more consolidated market structure supports improved pricing discipline, while rising leverage could enable steady EBITDA per tonne expansion.

Jefferies estimates EBITDA CAGR of 13.00–28.00% for covered companies over FY26–28, driven by capacity additions and improved pricing discipline.

Healthcare Sector Outlook

Jefferies maintains a selective positive view on hospitals, with capacity additions gaining momentum in CY26. The brokerage expects volume growth to take precedence over ARPOB, with Max Healthcare expected to see the highest new bed additions, followed by Fortis and Apollo. CGHS rate revisions in Q3FY26 are expected to start reflecting in CY26 numbers.

IT Services: Mixed Outlook

HCL Technologies Receives Upgrades

HCL Technologies garnered positive attention from multiple brokerages following its Q3 performance that exceeded expectations across most metrics. Deal TCV remained healthy, with forward-looking indicators continuing to look better than peers.

Morgan Stanley noted the standout performance but highlighted that it is reflected in premium multiples. The brokerage sees FY27 visibility looking better than earlier on growth, with 18.00% as the base margin for next year.

TCS Faces Cautious Stance

TCS received mixed ratings from brokerages, with concerns around muted international growth likely to disappoint investors.

Citi noted that international business growth remained sluggish at 0.40% QoQ, while equipment and software contributed nearly half of QoQ growth.

Banking and Financial Services

HDFC Bank Positioned for Recovery

CLSA maintains an Outperform rating on HDFC Bank with a target price of ₹1,200, believing current concerns are largely misconceived or temporary. The brokerage expects FY27 to be a bounceback year, noting the stock trades at a 10.00–12.00% discount to ICICI Bank. Core PPOP is expected to grow at a high-teens CAGR.

Bajaj Finance Faces Structural Challenges

Bernstein maintains an Underperform rating on Bajaj Finance with a target price of ₹750, flagging structurally higher credit costs and pricing pressure viewed as structural rather than cyclical. EPS growth is expected to slow to below 20.00% over the next few years.

Inflation and Monetary Policy

Multiple brokerages noted benign inflation trends with headline CPI at 1.33% YoY in December, materially below the RBI's tolerance band. UBS noted the RBI is nearing the end of its easing cycle, while BofA expects a 25 bps rate cut in the February policy. HSBC highlighted that India ended the year on a benign inflation note, with headline inflation remaining below the RBI's lower bound of 2.00% for four consecutive months.